German bobsledder Laura Nolte is on the best path to winning an Olympic gold medal in the monobob event at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Games. After three runs, the 27-year-old athlete maintains the lead, although her advantage over her most dangerous rivals from the USA has slightly diminished ahead of the decisive fourth slide. Experts emphasize the dominance of German lugers and bobsledders on that ice track.

Record-breaking start for the German

27-year-old Laura Nolte set a new track record at Cortina d'Ampezzo in her very first Olympic run.

Lead over rivals

The German leads with an advantage of 0.22 seconds over American Elana Meyers Taylor, promising a fierce final.

Lisa Buckwitz's misfortune

The second German, despite record-breaking starts, occupies a distant position due to numerous technical errors in the ice chute.

German bobsledder Laura Nolte is dominating the Olympic monobob competition at the Winter Olympic Games in Italy. From the very first slide, the 27-year-old athlete from BSC Winterberg set an extremely high pace, setting a track record at the Cortina Sliding Centre. After two runs on Sunday, her lead over the second-placed American Elana Meyers Taylor was 0.22 seconds. Nolte, who won gold in the two-woman event four years ago in Beijing, confirms her excellent form from the World Cup season. The track in Cortina d'Ampezzo is a historic winter sports venue, which hosted Olympic competitions as far back as 1956, and the recent modernization of the facility sparked numerous environmental and budgetary controversies ahead of the 2026 Games. However, the third run, which took place on Monday evening, brought considerable excitement. Although Nolte started first and performed confidently, her most dangerous competitors managed to recover some of the gap. The German still leads the standings, but the margin for error before the final round has decreased. Another German representative, Lisa Buckwitz, despite setting start records, occupies a lower position with a loss of almost a second due to technical errors on the track. The decisive slide is scheduled for the late evening hours, giving Nolte a chance to become the first German Olympic champion in this young discipline. „In the first run, despite a minor error in the upper part of the track, I managed to improve the track record, which fills me with optimism ahead of the decisive medal battle.” — Laura Nolte

Mentioned People

  • Laura Nolte — German bobsledder, World Cup winner, leader of the Olympic monobob competition.
  • Elana Meyers Taylor — American bobsledder, Nolte's main rival in the fight for the Olympic gold medal.
  • Lisa Buckwitz — German athlete competing in monobob, occupying a lower position despite good starts.